Home Depot focuses on retail experience

The AP notes that in the wake of former CEO Bob Nardelli's resignation, the Home Depot will be shifting strategies a bit to sell off its Home Depot Supply business (catering to professional construction companies and contractors) in order to free up some cash, buy back some shares, and focus exclusively on its retail stores.

While both the AP story and the original press release are unclear about how some of the estimated $10.3B from the sale will be used in-store, recently the company has been criticized for poor customer service and challenging store layouts, especially in contrast to rival Lowes, who has made great strides in both of these areas. I'd thus expect to see a wave of hiring (there's never somebody in an orange apron around when you need them!), hopefully some improved wayfinding signage and maybe even a planogram change, and there's even the possibility to install some retail media services or interactive kiosks to provide supplemental services.

Tags: Home Depot, retail experience